The Fox
by Taste Of The Forbidden II
Summary: Ten months. Ten months that changed my life forever. Ten months of ecstasy, despite the agony. Why? Because of The Fox. Features a shy but dirty-minded British Professorward and sharp, sexy student Geekella.


**Taste of the Forbidden II**

**Title: The Fox  
Rating: M  
Genre: Romance  
Word Count: 10,968  
Pairing: Edward & Bella**

**Summary:** Ten months. Ten months that changed my life forever. Ten months of ecstasy, despite the agony. Why?Because of The Fox. Features a shy but dirty-minded British Professorward and sharp, sexy student Geekella.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any characters recognisable as belonging to Stephenie Meyer, the creator of the wonderful world of Twilight. I just like bringing them to my side of the pond and introducing them to my dirty mind. Please be warned that this story contains some very bad language, and some very juicy lemons, so please don't read if really naughty, dirty-talking lemony stuff isn't your thing.

**AN: Welcome to my entry for the Taste of The Forbidden II Contest. I hope you like it! This story is set in The University of Oxford. I've never actually been to Oxford apart from on a day trip or two, so if there are any mistakes, please forgive me. Just put it down to creative licence!**

**Thank you for reading.**

September

_**University of Oxford**_

**Faculty of Biological Sciences: **

**Supervision Arrangements for Third Year Undergraduates**

**Department of Neurosciences:**

_Professor JW Hale: Tyler Crowley_

_Professor ED McCarty: Eric Yorkie_

_Professor EA Masen: Isabella Swan_

"Holy shit, Bella!" my friend Angela exclaimed. "You're working with The Fox!"

"'The Fox?'"

"Professor Masen. They call him The Fox. "

"I don't understand. I was supposed to have Professor Gerandy this year. We had a project planned out and everything."

"You haven't heard?"

"Heard what? I only got back from Boston two days ago."

"Professor Gerandy had a heart attack in the summer. He's fine but he's been forced to take early retirement."

"Shit."

"How was Harvard by the way?"

"Amazing. My internship in Carlisle Cullen's lab was great experience, and Boston's a great city." I told her. "What's 'The Fox' like anyway?"

"A bit of a hermit, doesn't talk much, totally workaholic... oh and he's got sort of auburn hair like..."

"... a fox. So instead of cuddly grandpa Gerandy, I get a reclusive, antisocial..."

"Bella, you should see it as an honour." Angela patted my shoulder. "Professor Masen doesn't usually work with undergrads, just PhD students. Look, did I mention that he's hot? Really hot."

I sighed. I couldn't think about whether he was hot or not right now. Your final year supervisor could make or break your academic career.

"If you're really unhappy about the assignment, maybe you could talk to Professor Banner, see if he'll reassign you?" Angela suggested, referring to the Head of the Faculty.

"No, it'll be too late now." I sighed. "I guess I'd better get up there and introduce myself."

The labs were eerily quiet as I approached. I continued through to the end of the hallway, where I heard faint voices.

"... it's just so bloody inconvenient!" I heard an exasperated, deep, smooth male voice cry from behind the last door. "I haven't got time to be babysitting, Jazz! I'm on the point of a real breakthrough! Damn it, why did John have to have a heart attack?!"

"I'm sure he's very sorry to have inconvenienced you, Edward." Another male voice drawled sarcastically. "But you agreed to take on all his responsibilities. Including his undergrad student."

"Fuck, I know. I'm an ass. John reassured me that she's top of the class but..."

Shit. He really didn't want to supervise me. My day was going from bad to worse. How was I supposed to develop a meaningful mentorship with someone who was only working with me through reluctant obligation? Chickening out of talking to him until I'd had some strong coffee, I backed away but promptly stumbled over my stupid feet and went flying backwards, knocking over a 'Caution, Wet Floor' sign with a loud clatter.

"What the…" The door opened and suddenly two men were hovering over me. Both were tall. One had shaggy blond hair a la Kurt Cobain and a big smile. The other… the other… _fuck me! _He looked like an angry Greek God. All angular face and lean, hard body. Blue-green oceans for eyes and luscious floppy, coppery, red-brown hair a girl could lose her hands in, with just a hint of silver at the temples. _Reddish-brown hair… scowling… The Fox. The Fox! The delicious, handsome, gorgeous, completely-off-limits-because-he's-my-supervisor Fox._

"Sorry! Sorry!" I cried, still on the floor. "I was looking for Professor Masen."

The Fox held out a large but elegant hand to help me up. I took it, hoisted myself up and nearly fell forward again as the most delicious goose-pimply tingles shot up my arm from where our hands met. I didn't want to let go.

"I'm Professor Masen." He replied, his voice taking on a weird, strained quality. _Great. He hates me._ "Isabella Swan, by any chance?"

"Yes. Please call me Bella."

He glanced at our hands, still entwined, and, looking at me oddly, he pulled his free. Every cell in my body demanded I touch him again. I didn't.

"I suppose we should discuss your project, Miss Swan. Follow me."

-%-

October

Friday night. Library. Necessary. My research project was going absolutely nowhere.

The Fox could barely tolerate me. I'd seen him a grand total of five times in four weeks of working in his lab. He seemed to be nocturnal like his namesake creature; I could tell when he'd been in the lab late because of the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup wrappers in the coffee room bin. His favourite apparently, according to Professor Hale, the blond Kurt Cobain lookalike, or Jasper, as he insisted on being called, who teased him for being addicted to them.

The faculty made us have weekly supervision meetings, but seeing as he couldn't stand me and I turned into a blushing, ducking schoolgirl in his presence, involuntarily imagining what he looked like under his fitted jeans, dark t-shirt and lab coat, our meetings descended into little more than the exchange of a few brief pleasantries. He only made sure that I was following the research protocols and documenting everything correctly. Other than that, he seemed unfazed by my unremarkable results.

Nobody expected undergrads to make major discoveries in their work. Except that I was serious about becoming a neuroscientist, and mediocre wasn't going to cut it. I decided that I needed to dedicate some time to looking at ways to take my project in different directions if I was serious about doing research that was worth something more than just my degree grade.

Before long I had covered an entire study table with diagrams and lists, pulling out journal articles and books to supplement my ideas with knowledge and evidence. Soon, my work had led me to need more articles and I left my desk to find them. As I walked back to my study area, I started reading the first one, so didn't notice where I was going, or who was standing by my desk until I tripped over his feet, landing on my front.

"Miss Swan?" Oh, damn it. I knew that voice. That low, smooth, velvety dissolve-my-black-lace-boyshorts voice.

"Professor." A hand appeared in the periphery of my vision. I pulled myself to my knees and took his hand to help myself up, feeling once again the magic warmth that coursed through my veins the first time we touched.

"Do you fall over in front of all the staff here or am I just special?" He asked, once I was upright again and he had let go of me. There was a half-smile on his face, emphasising tiny sexy laugh lines around his eyes and a hint of joviality in his tone. Embarrassed, I chose not to answer.

"What brings you here on a Friday night, sir?"

"I could ask you the same thing." He replied. "Is all this…" He gestured to the table full of my scribbles. "…your work?"

"Yes."

"You're looking to alter your research protocol? Expand your project?"

"Well, yes. I know that my results so far have been OK, but I can't help thinking that I'm missing something, something which could lead to a real breakthrough if I could just... I don't know... think a bit laterally."

"Impressive." I couldn't help it. My cheeks started to burn with my traitorous blush. The Fox just gave me a compliment. Me, his unwanted undergrad student supervisee.

"Thank you."

"Miss Swan, your project already has some potential to support work that I'm already doing in this area, but the chances of success for both your dissertation and my lab's work are much magnified if you're prepared to expand it like this brainstorming suggests. I think you're onto something."

He sat down at the table and I did the same.

"I fear I've underestimated you so far. If you're serious about this, perhaps you would consider joining my research team a paid researcher? It's a lot more work than we'd usually expect of an undergrad so I'd be prepared to pay you a small stipend, but I would need your complete commitment. You could write your dissertation based on the work we do as a team, which would give it a lot more weight academically."

"Of course! Professor, I know I'm just an undergrad, but if you take a chance on me, I promise, I'll do whatever it takes to help you find that breakthrough." I told him, genuine excitement and interest flooding my dorky self.

"Today's undergrad, tomorrow's Professor." He murmured, smiling a little. "'Whatever it takes?'"

"Whatever it takes, sir."

He studied me intently for a minute, teal eyes sweeping over my form briefly before returning to my face. On the outside I stayed calm, but on the inside I had melted. The amount of moisture pooling between my legs was obscene.

Slowly, he extended his hand to me and I shook it keenly.

"Welcome to my research team, Isabella. Let's see what you're made of."

-%-

November

The Fox had a picture of a stunning strawberry blonde woman on the bookshelf above his desk. Who was she? Whilst he was considerably friendlier towards me, I wouldn't dare ask him anything so personal. Still, I couldn't help but speculate. Was she his wife? He didn't wear a wedding ring, but some married men didn't. His sister, perhaps? _Optimistic much?_

I was pondering this important question whilst waiting for the incubator to finish cooking my cells, when the door to the lab flung open.

"Swanny, what'cha doing?"

My skin immediately started to crawl. Bloody Tyler Crowley, again. The guy was an arrogant prick who thought that he was God's gift to women. And because I kept saying 'no' to his pathetic requests for a date, he had decided to torture me by calling me 'Swanny' and interrupting my lab time.

"It's called research. You should try it sometime. Maybe then you wouldn't look like such a tool in the departmental meetings."

"You know, some might say that your snipes are thinly veiled attempts to hide your devastating attraction to me."

The timer went off on the incubator. I put on my gloves and retrieved my little beauties. Since modifying my research protocol with The Fox's help, I was getting some really exciting results, ones which seemed to prove his theories.

"Well, Tyler, wow! You sure figured me out! Oh, I want you. I need you. Give it to me good, big boy!" I retorted sarcastically.

Unfortunately, even the lowest form of wit was too witty for Tyler.

"I knew it!" He punched the air and suddenly was right in front of me, lips puckered, perilously close to my face.

Trapped between the lab bench and Tyler's drooling mouth, holding a tray of perfectly incubated rat neurons in holders that rapidly needed to be processed, I felt panic rise within me.

"What the hell!?"

Unfortunately Professor Masen's exclamation startled Tyler and he slammed into me, causing the glass tray of samples to be crushed and smashed to smithereens. His body weight crushed me, and crushed glass shards into my hands. I screamed in pain.

"Oww! Tyler! You just killed a day's worth of research!" I cried, tears threatening to run down my face. I turned to look at The Fox, who was fuming. Totally fucking pissed.

"Get out." My professor's voice was ice cold steel.

I attempted to scramble to my feet, but the glass had penetrated my plastic gloves and blood seeped through. It was really fucking painful. I could feel my face starting to crumple.

"Shit! Not you Isabella. You don't move. I meant Crowley." He turned towards Tyler. "Get out of my lab now! None of this would have happened if you hadn't been harassing Miss Swan!"

"I wasn't… she…"

"I heard everything. You were. It's not Isabella's fault that you don't understand sarcasm. Get out. NOW!"

The moment Tyler was gone, The Fox was by my side.

"I'm sorry, sir! Really sorry! He just came towards me and… the samples!"

"Shh… don't worry about that. Let me help you up, OK?"

"OK." I found myself just staring at his beautiful face as he manoeuvred himself in front of me and into a crouch.

"Right, um… I think the best way to do this would be if you put your arms around my neck and let me take your weight as I stand up." He suggested. I merely nodded. He leant forward and I curled my arms around his neck, trying not to wince with the pain in my hands. "Good girl." He murmured, and then slowly stood up, taking me with him.

"Thank you, Professor." I whispered, suddenly aware that I was standing, arms round his neck, in what could be construed as a rather intimate embrace. There were mere millimetres between his chest and mine. I could feel his body heat warming me through to the bone. I was assaulted by his delectable caramel and malty scent, coloured by a hint of alluring musk. All I needed to do was tilt my head up just a little and…

"I'd better take a look at your hands." He said suddenly, running his hands up my sides and over my upper arms before stepping back. "Make sure that you're not going to need stitches or something." He led me to the sink and pulled off my gloves. The palms of both my hands were covered in small, really painful cuts, but none looked bad enough to warrant a visit to the Emergency Department. He turned the taps on and ran water over the cuts.

"Oww…" I bit my lip to stop from crying out.

"Sorry! I just want to make sure none of the cuts have any shards of glass in them." He said, looking at me but then for some reason doing a double take and looking at me again. I heard him sigh. _Of course. Looking after me must be eating into his lab time._

"I'm the one who's sorry. I just want you to know, sir, that Tyler's attention was not wanted. I didn't ask him to visit me. He just…"

"Wouldn't leave you alone. I know. I've already had words with Professor Hale about him. Every time I've looked in during the past couple of weeks, he's been bugging you. This time I decided to eavesdrop." He picked up the first aid kit, found some gauze bandages and began wrapping my hands.

"I'm glad you did. If you hadn't…" I shuddered at the thought of Tyler's slobbery lips making contact with my own. "As soon as I can, I'll repeat the trial."

"I know you will, and I don't want you to worry about it until your wounds heal, OK?"

"Yes, sir." He finished off the dressings to my hands by fixing them in place with some tape.

"Bella?" I looked up sharply. He'd never called me that before.

"Yes, sir?"

"Stop calling me sir."

-%-

December

I should have been pretty happy, come the department Christmas party, but instead, I was miserable. Why? One guess.

The Fox.

I wanted him. God, I wanted him so fucking badly! He was the full package. Good looking, ferociously intelligent, witty, articulate, kind, generous… I could go on and on and on.

Yet I told myself that I was being completely irrational. He was my professor and my boss. Off limits. He was something like twenty years older than me. He was hotter than George Clooney and I was just a mousy, plain Jane. A geeky lab girl. He never gave me any indication that he considered me in any sort of romantic or sexual way, which, on paper, was a good thing, considering how much trouble professors got into for having relationships with their students.

Of course, my thoughts about him were romantic, and sexual, very, very sexual. I daydreamed about him kissing me to within an inch of my life. I imagined his large hands cupping my breasts, delving under my t-shirt and teasing my throbbing nipples. I devoted entirely too much time thinking about what his tongue would feel like licking and caressing my skin. How amazing would it if he bent me over a lab bench, pulled down my jeans and impaled me on what I imagined was his thick, hard and long cock before riding me (and himself) into rapture?

I imagined that he would be a very good, attentive lover. A man that good looking, with such an amazing ass and such long fingers, with at least twenty years of sexual experience, must have been around the block a few times and tried some really rather dirty stuff.

I wondered if he did dirty stuff with the strawberry blonde, about whom I was still too chicken to ask.

God, how I wanted him to do dirty stuff with me. To me.

The Christmas party was being held in the private room of a busy pub/restaurant in the heart of Oxford. I found myself sat with some of the doctoral students. The Fox was right at the other end of the table, sandwiched between Jasper's wife, a petite raven haired woman, and Professor McCarty's wife, a statuesque blonde bombshell, and was chatting to both animatedly.

Jealousy raged through me, especially when he put his arm around Emmett's wife's shoulders as they laughed at some joke. Or when he kissed Jasper's wife on the cheek when she passed him the gravy. Most of all I was jealous at how relaxed he seemed around them. Even through The Fox was friendly towards me, and he called me Bella, there was still a little formality.

After the meal, we headed to the pub's main drinking area which was really busy and it took me ages to get the barman's attention.

"What'll it be?"

"Kopparberg please. Pear flavour." I asked, craving the taste of the fruity Swedish cider.

"Make it two." The Fox's smooth voice drifted into my ears from behind me.

"Got it."

I turned around.

"It's my favourite." He told me. Hi, Bella."

"Hi Professor." I said, trying to keep my voice even. With the bar so busy, he was pressed up against me, one lean leg placed in between mine, the thick denim of his jeans brushing my thigh. "Having a good night?"

"Yep. You? Enjoy the food?"

"Uh-huh."

"Two Pear Kopparberg Ciders. That's eight pounds." He looked right into my eyes for just a moment before he stepped away slightly and fished out his wallet to pay the barman. We walked back into the private room.

"Thank you. You didn't have to pay for my drink…" I started to say.

"STOP! Stop right there!" Jasper's wife cried as we walked in.

"Alice, what…"

"Look up."

We duly looked up.

Mistletoe. Motherfucking mistletoe.

"Um… I don't think that's such a good idea…" he began.

"It's tradition!" Alice complained.

"Just take that stick out of your ass, Edward, and pucker up." Professor McCarty's wife, who was called Rosalie, cried.

I looked up at him worriedly. He looked mad. _Silly Bella. Of course he doesn't want to kiss his dorky student._ I started to move away.

"Fine!" He cried.

I stopped and looked up at him. He lowered his face to mine. His warm pear cider-scented breath washed over me briefly before his soft pink lips caressed the skin to one side of my mouth. I had never felt such a rush. My head spun. My heart beat wildly. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. Too soon it was over. I stepped away, overwhelmed, but managed to whisper a brief thanks as I walked over to Randall, Charles, and Makenna, The Fox's doctoral students. They didn't appear to have witnessed it. I spent the rest of the night mainly in their company, not daring to look in his direction.

"Which way are you walking, Bella?" Randall asked me as we donned hats and coats to go home.

"North. You?"

"We're all walking south I'm afraid."

"That's fine. It's not far."

"I'll walk you back, Bella." The Fox said, appearing from out of nowhere.

"That's all right, Professor. I wouldn't want to inconvenience you."

"No bother. I'm heading north myself."

"All right then."

We didn't talk much on the walk back, just about the latest round of results and some of the statistical analyses we needed to do after Christmas. Finally we reached the gates of my residence. It was deserted. Nearly everyone had already gone home for the holidays.

"I'm glad you came to the party, Bella." He murmured.

"You are?"

"I am. You're a real asset to the department and to my team, Bella. I'm so glad that you were the student assigned to me."

"Really?" I squeaked.

"Really." He replied sincerely. _Wow, there goes my ability to breathe._ "Anyway, it's bloody freezing out here, so I'd best let you go." _No, please don't._ "Good night, Bella."

Suddenly, his lips were against my cheek again and his arm wrapped round my torso in a half-hug. With alcohol in my blood propelling my lust, I lost all control.

I grabbed the lapels of his coat, turned my face, and met his lips with my own. He froze but then his other arm wrapped around me and he held me to his chest, the whisper-soft warm touch of our lips turning into a deep, passionate kiss. I snaked my hands up and around his neck, moaning as my fingers met the hair at the nape of his neck. It was as luscious as I imagined. When I carded my fingers into his mane, I found myself turned and pressed against a nearby brick wall, and his tongue probed past my lips before dancing with mine. I hitched my leg up; he caught it and ran his hand up and down it as I wrapped it across his thighs.

"Get a room!" A distant drunken cry broke our union, and he let go of me like a hot potato, breathing heavily.

"Fuck." He mumbled under his breath.

"Fuck." I repeated.

He backed away, eyes wide, hair in complete disarray.

"Um, uh… Merry Christmas, Bella. See you next term." He said before running, yes, _fucking running,_ away into the night.

-%-

January

Upon returning to Oxford after the holidays, I checked my email. I was shocked to see that The Fox had emailed me, just a day earlier.

_From: Professor Edward A Masen_

_To: Isabella Swan_

_Subject: Meeting_

_Bella_

_I hope you had a good Christmas and New Year. _

_Please contact me when you return to Oxford. I think we need to meet, as soon as possible, don't you?_

_Edward_

Of course I emailed back straight away, and not five minutes later, he had pinged one back, telling me to meet him in his office in the lab that evening at 6.30pm. _When everyone else has gone home._

"Come in." He called when I knocked. I pushed the heavy door open.

"Hello, Professor." He sighed as I spoke, and immediately I felt tears prick the back of my eyes. _Is this goodbye?_

"Bella." His voice was hoarse. "How were your Christmas and New Year?"

"Honestly, it was shit. My parents are abroad somewhere and I spent it alone watching teenage vampire movies. How was yours?"

"Shit." He replied. "Please sit down."

I sat. Tension permeated the office as we just stared at each other.

"I'm sorry." I eventually murmured. "I shouldn't have done that… I'd had a lot to drink…"

"I'm the one who should be sorry, Bella! I'm the one in a position of authority. I'm the one who took advantage of my supervisee, a young woman half my age…" He pinched the bridge of his nose and screwed his eyes up tight. "…I'm the one who… who… _molested_ you…" he added in a whisper.

"What?" I cried, standing up. "You didn't! Don't you dare use that word! Did you see me protest? You went to kiss me on the cheek. I was the one who turned up the heat!" I totally lost it. All my frustrations were unleashed. "And do you know what, I loved it! I fucking loved it and I've spent the past two weeks wondering how good things might have gotten if that fucking drunken idiot hadn't interrupted and scared you off!"

"Bella, shh… shh…" He stood up, strode towards me and enveloped me in his arms. "Just cry it out, baby."

And I did. I cried like a little girl, whilst trying to cherish the feeling of his hard, lean, warm body surrounding mine. He bent his head and kissed the top of my forehead at my hairline. When I looked up, his green eyes cut right through me.

"You called me baby." I said inanely.

"I did. Bella, _baby, _I haven't been able to stop thinking about you since the moment you crashed into my life. I've tried avoiding you. I've tried not avoiding you. I've tried every goddamn thing I could think of to not give into these feelings, this attraction, this pull I have to you. Clearly, at Christmas, the dam broke. You know that our careers are on the line if anyone finds out."

"I know that! God, It's been agony! But I can't stay away."

"Agony doesn't even begin to describe it." His arms tightened around my waist. "But Bella, are you sure about this, me? I'm forty. Old enough to be your father…"

"I don't care how old you are. My mother always jokes that I was born thirty-five anyway. Does the fact that I'm twenty-one get to you? If I weren't your student and we had met in the pub…?"

"I'd have been all over you in a heartbeat, whether you were twenty-one or fifty-one." He smiled slightly. "The fact that you are my student is an issue. Your age isn't. We value the same things. We see the world in the same way. You turn me on more than any girl I've ever met, baby."

"But you could have any woman you wanted. Why would you settle for little mousy me when you could have a supermodel on your arm?" I gestured to the photo of Strawberry Blonde.

"That's my best friend, Tanya. My _lesbian _best friend." He explained.

"Oh."

"Bella, you don't see yourself very clearly." He cupped my face with his hands and stroked his thumbs over my cheekbones, wiping away my tears. My eyes fluttered shut. "Your name is Italian for 'beautiful', but no words can describe how beautiful you actually are." He kissed my forehead. "Your face…" He stroked my hair. "These chocolate brown locks…" He kissed my closed eyelids. "…your Bambi eyes, so deep and dark…" He brushed a thumb over my mouth before kissing the side of it. "This rosebud mouth…" I opened said mouth and enveloped the tip of his thumb. "Fuck, baby… you haunt me. I want you so much."

"Nobody's ever made me feel like this…" I nearly called him 'Professor.' "Edward…" I sounded it out. "Edward." I met his eyes and said it again. "Edward."

My reward was his mouth crashing into mine. A hand in my long hair, anchoring my face to his. Another hand in the small of my back, pressing my body into his. My hands roamed his back; I could feel every single rippling muscle. Our hips collided, and suddenly I was aware of his rock hard groin rubbing me exactly where I needed to be rubbed by him. I slipped my hands into the back pockets of his jeans and squeezed, feeling those tantalising buns of his for the first time.

"Oh, Bella… need to stop…" He moaned, but as soon as he'd said it, he found my neck with his mouth. I squeezed again. "Oh fuck…"

He wrenched himself away, panting heavily. I let out a sigh/moan of frustration.

"Why…?"

"As much as I want to, and believe me, I _really_ want to, you mean far more to me than a quick shag in my office. If we're going to do this, go through the whole rigmarole of keeping secrets, learning to work together whilst _being _together, then I think it has to be for a proper relationship. The stakes are so high, baby, you know?"

"You realise that saying stuff like that to me just makes me want you more?" He laughed.

"Yes, but it's true. I'm not saying 'never'. I'm just saying…"

"…Not yet." I stepped back towards him and this time it was my turn to take him into my arms. "All right. We'll wait to do that, but in the meantime…" I tilted my face upwards and he leaned down to find my mouth.

-%-

February

Bella's 'conducting an illicit, passionate affair with your sexy-as-fuck professor' kit:

New non-university email addresses each- only known to each other. Only to be accessed on phones.

One new Pay As You Go mobile phone each- number only known to each other.

Concealer- medical grade- to cover up neck hickeys. Each.

A litany of plausible excuses for friends, family, colleagues and classmates as to why you're always busy.

Condoms, just in case your sexy-as-fuck professor ever decides to stop cock-blocking.

One Rampant Rabbit. For when he dazzles you almost to the point of orgasm, and then pulls back, leaving you to finish the job solo.

Lip balm. For lips chapped from kissing and from biting them to stop blurting out 'I love you.'

Because I did. I was so bloody in love with The Fox that I couldn't see straight.

It was 14th February. We were sat cross-legged opposite each other on his sofa, basking in the privacy of his apartment, a couple of miles out of town.

"It's not a Valentine's gift. I just happen to be giving it to you on Valentine's Day." I told him.

"Well..." He produced a small box from his back pocket. "While we're on the subject of gifts..."

"Edward!" I leaned forward and slapped his chest lightly. He caught my hand and entwined his fingers with mine before kissing my knuckles. A now-familiar erotic shiver ran through me. "You first." I told him, taking the box he offered me with my free hand.

He popped open his gift.

"You made me cupcakes?"

"Reese's Peanut Butter Cup cupcakes. Chocolate cake with peanut butter icing, topped with chocolate sauce." I explained.

"My favourite! They look delicious!" He put the cupcakes down on the coffee table. "Your turn."

I lifted the lid off the box he gave me. Inside was a silver keyring attached to a cute little orange soft toy creature. On it was a key. I looked up at him confused.

"Edward?"

"Um, it's the key to this place. I wanted you to have it, because, well, I like having you here, and I miss you when you're not, and I trust you with my life and..."

I didn't let him finish and instead launched myself into his lap, kissing him with wild abandon.

"Amazing! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" I held it up and examined the toy thing. "I don't mean to be rude but, um, what is it supposed to be?"

"A fox. I admit, it doesn't much look like one, but it was the only keyring I could find that purported to be a fox."

"You got me a fox keyring?"

"Yeah... sometimes when you fall asleep here or on the coffee room sofa at the lab, you talk. And I've heard you say 'fox, fox, come here, foxy' a few times, so I thought that maybe you like foxes. Is that wrong?" He asked, furrowing his brow in confusion. "Do you actually have some sort of phobia of them?"

I let go of a side-splitting, floor-rolling belly laugh.

"Edward, you're The Fox!"

"Huh?"

"Do you really not know this?"

"Know what?"

"Your nickname amongst the students is 'The Fox.' So in my head, I call you 'The Fox.'" I explained. "Or 'Foxy'."

"Wow. It's a compliment, right?"

"Yes!" I wriggled on his lap and held myself there by wrapping my legs around him. "Because you're foxy... sexy... shy... nocturnal..." I stopped talking then because his large hands drifted over my ass and one slipped under my jeans.

"You think I'm foxy?" His low voice rumbled like an earthquake through me.

"Mmm-hmm..." I gently licked along his jawline. "Yep. My foxy Edward."

"Lie back, baby."

"Yes sir." I replied cheekily as I obeyed his command.

"Oh, you shouldn't have said that..."

"No?"

He moved to hover over me, and gently rocked his pelvis into mine.

"Feel that?"

"Oh yes." _Love that._

"When you call me 'sir', it turns me on so fucking much that I can't see straight. It conjures up these fantasies..."

"And that's a bad thing?" I asked, rolling my hips slightly. "What fantasies? Tell me."

"Bella...fuck! I'm supposed to be in control of myself..."

"Tell me, _sir._" I reiterated. "I want to hear them. I want to hear what dirty things you want to do to me."

"You're really trying to kill me, aren't you, baby?"

I didn't answer. I just waited, cupping my breast idly, watching him do battle with himself. I knew what I wanted. All of him. Everywhere. And I had waited long enough.

"You want to hear..." He said eventually, swallowing hard. "...how I imagine you naked except for stockings and a garter belt, on your knees in front of me, begging to suck my cock, begging me to gather your hair in my hand and hold you in place whilst I fuck your mouth?"

"Yes." I squirmed under him. "I want to hear about that. I want to do that to you."

"Well, well, my Bella, so naughty." He breathed, pulling my t-shirt over my head. I was braless and he took the opportunity to play with my nipple, flicking and pulling lightly. _Ungh. _"I imagine that you'd love it. That these plump titties would bounce up and down as you sucked and licked me. That servicing me would turn you on so much that juices would drip from your pussy down your thighs. That the smell of you would be thick in the air."

"Holy fuck, yes!" I moaned. "Tell me more!"

"You'd want me to come in your mouth, to have my spunk dribbling down your chin, but your sexy scent would make me want to switch to fucking your tight little kitty."

His shirt ended up on the floor. I attached my lips to his shoulder and kissed him there.

"Mmm..."

"At first you'd protest when I pull out of your mouth, but I would pick you up and bend you over the arm of the chair, and use my hand to spread your legs. You would go quiet. Before impaling you with my dick, I'd spank you for being such a dirty girl, for begging your professor to fuck you every which way, and for your little protest." He stroked the side of my face, as if to check that I wasn't upset by his words. I was only upset that he'd stopped talking.

"Oh, yes! I'm a bad, bad girl... you'd have to bring me to heel."

"I would spank you ten times until your juicy bum was rosy red, and then I'd stroke my finger into your slippery wet gash and taste you."

"God, I want your cock now!" I wailed. I was so unbelievably turned on. I slid my hand down the front of my jeans, fingered myself and brought my finger back to his lips. "See?"

"Oh bloody hell..." He sucked my finger into his mouth and encircled it with his tongue before sucking at it like a lollipop. "Nectar. Fucking nectar!"

He stood up suddenly, leaving me cold.

"What the...?!" I cried indignantly, although I needn't have worried. Edward grabbed my hands and hauled me to my feet.

"Bedroom, Bella. I'm not waiting anymore."

"Take me there." I whispered as I wound my arms around his neck again. He nodded and cupped my ass before lifting me up.

As he walked to the bedroom, carrying me, he sucked and pulled at my bottom lip. Sometimes I found that sexier than full kissing, and he knew it. When we got to the bedroom, he set me down. I turned over onto my front and positioned myself over the edge of the bed, ass high in the air.

"Fuck me, Edward, please! Like this! I'm begging you, _sir!"_

Before I knew it, my jeans and panties were around my ankles.

"You asked for it." He told me as I felt his warm, large hand stroke up the back of my thigh. Long fingers soon probed inside my oozing, dripping slit, and tapped my sensitive nub. I moaned loudly. "You were saying something about begging, baby?"

"Fuck!" He pumped in and out, in and out, but not fast enough. "More, please! Fill me up! I need it!" I wailed.

"Does my baby want to come?"

"Yes, please! I want to come on your cock!"

"Will you be able take it all, Bella? My thick, hard member. Will your young, sexy, snug little cunt be able to take the stretching, the pounding, the good hard fucking?"

"YES! I can do it! I need it!"

"That's very good begging, baby. Let's see, shall we?" He pulled his fingers from me. I heard him snap open his belt buckle and rip the foil of a condom packet, and then I felt his body heat again as he positioned himself behind me. He pressed the head of his cock against me and I bit my lip in anticipation. "Ready?"

"Ready."

With a little push, his tip stretched me open. A second push and he was gripping my shoulders as he slid all the way inside, slowly at first, giving me time to adjust, which as a good thing, because although he wasn't anaconda-sized, he wasn't exactly small.

"Holy fuck." He mumbled. "Heaven." _Amen to that._

"Amazing!"

"I'll show you amazing, baby." He withdrew a little, then slammed back into me so hard he nearly collapsed on top of me.

"More!"

"Fuck, yeah!"

He quickly set up a rhythm, not kidding about the pounding. Each time he thrust, I felt ripples of pleasure right through me, and the more he rode me, the bigger the ripples got. With each movement, he stroked against my hot spot, bringing me closer and closer and closer to my climax.

"Close... so close..."

"Me too! Bella..."

He fingered my clit again whilst holding onto my shoulder with his other hand.

"Oh hell, I'm... I'm... going to..." He pressed harder onto my clit. "Fuck! FUCK! COME!" I yelled.

"So sexy, my sexy Bella! Me too! Me too! ME TOO!" I felt his release and the response of my tight canal walls, trying to milk his seed from him by clamping down, almost giving me another orgasm.

He rolled off me onto his back, and dragged me on top of him.

"Edward, that was phenomenal. Absolutely..."

"Uh-huh." I lifted my head. His eyes were closed and he was breathing loudly.

"I love how you worked me and my body so expertly."

"I love that you let me. You let go and helped me let go." He sat up slightly and caressed the side of my face, tangling his fingertips into my now rather damp, tangled hair. "You are perfect, Bella."

So was he.

"You too, Edward. Perfect for me."

"Bella, I don't want to scare you with what I'm about to say next..."

A cold chill washed over me.

"What?" I asked warily.

"I love you!" He blurted out before casting his eyes away.

"Don't tell me that and then look away from me!" I cried. He glanced back at me, his teal green eyes all anxious. "I love you too!"

"You do?"

"Why do you sound so surprised?"

"Because I honestly thought that this, us, might just be a phase for you. A sexual awakening with an older man, whilst trying to find your place in the world."

"I know where I belong, Edward. With you."

-%-

March

Labs by day, The Fox's bed by night. And his kitchen. And his bathroom. And his car, parked by fields. And in the fields, up against a tree. Actually, several trees.

Obscene amount of money blown on lingerie.

That is all.

-%-

April 

It was my last day in the lab with The Fox. I didn't want to go, but my time had run out. The other undergrads were all long gone but I'd held out until the last moment. Two months of dissertation-writing and final exams now awaited me, but it would be worth it when I got my degree. Professor Banner had already accepted me for the Neurosciences PhD program, as long as I got First Class Honours, and I had requested to work with Jasper Hale. We got on well, he was doing some fascinating research, and he, along with Professor McCarty, was Edward's best friend, so when our relationship came to light, he would probably be understanding.

After clearing out my locker in the afternoon, I walked into the coffee room to find Edward, our whole research team, Jasper Hale, Emmett McCarty, and several more of my lab friends gathered, a large chocolate cake and a bouquet of spring flowers on the coffee table. A round of applause started as I stepped inside.

"For me?" I squeaked, touched by their gesture. Jasper came round and slung an arm around my shoulders.

"It is indeed, sweetheart! We just wanted to say how wonderful it's been to have you work with us. Not only has your research helped our department make a real breakthrough but your enthusiasm and energy's been infectious."

"Absolutely!" Prof McCarty agreed. "It's been great having you around!" He thrust a paper cup of fizzy wine into my hand. "I'd like to propose a toast. To Bella, the future Professor Swan!"

"To Bella!" Everyone chorused.

"Thank you." My cheeks burned at being the centre of attention but I eventually found my voice. "I've been so fortunate to work with all of you. I've learnt so much, not just from Professor Masen, who has been a fantastic mentor," Edward flashed his cooked grin at me briefly, "but from everyone..."

My speech was interrupted by the coffee room door opening.

"Oh, hello! What's going on here?" It was Professor Banner, with a short man in his fifties with slicked back black hair in a ponytail. I disliked him on sight, especially when his cold eyes trawled up and down my figure.

"It's Isabella's last day in the lab, Doug. We're just putting on a little spread for her." Edward replied, "Professor Volturi, what brings you here?" His voice was ice cold. _He detests him too._

"Ah, well, with John Gerandy retiring, it appears that there's a job opening for Head of Neurosciences." Professor Slimy Volturi replied. He had a strong Italian accent, but it wasn't sexy.

"Doug?" Edward's jaw was clenched.

"Well, it's an idea. You, Jasper, and Emmett have done a great job managing the department these past few months but someone of Aro's experience would..." Professor Banner stopped suddenly, aware of the large audience. "Um, let's meet this week to discuss things, OK?"

"Fine." _Shit. The Fox is anything but. _

"Well, we'll leave you to it..." Professor Banner made to leave.

"Yes, but before we go, I must pay my respects to this beautiful young lady." Professor Slimy turned to me. "Isabella, is it? I'm Aro Volturi. You're an undergraduate?" I had heard of the name of the eminent Professor Volturi before. It would be career suicide to be impolite, so I shook his offered hand. He ran his thumb over my knuckles. It made me feel queasy.

"Yes." I replied before pulling my hand away.

That evening, after I'd dumped my stuff from my locker in my residence, I let myself into Edward's apartment. He came home around half an hour later, just as I had dinner ready, his rigid back and set jaw indicating that he was still pissed about Professor Slimy.

"Hey, baby." He mumbled. "Smells good. What is it?"

"Mushroom ravioli. Is that OK?"

He wrapped his arms around my waist from behind before kissing my neck.

"Lovely." He let go of me and pulled a half bottle of white wine from the fridge. "Want some?"

"Sure." I grabbed two plates and started dishing up whilst he poured. We sat down at his cosy kitchen table. He was quiet. I didn't like it and nudged his knee with mine.

"Huh?"

"Are you going to tell me what all that was about with Professor Slimier-than-Berlusconi?"

"Um..."

"Say 'nothing' and I will make you regret it!" I told him, squeezing his thigh.

"Damn, commanding little thing, aren't you?" He smiled. "OK. He was my supervisor when I did my undergrad in Cambridge. He worked me like a dog before publishing my research without acknowledging me, and spent all his time schmoozing with pharmaceutical company execs. I don't want that for our department."

"How the fuck could he get away with publishing your research? What about the protocols, the lab logbooks...?"

"Record-keeping for undergrad projects wasn't really done back then. His name was on all the records we did keep. I already had my place on the doctoral program here and it would have been in jeopardy if I'd gone around making accusations I couldn't prove."

"Shit. That explains your obsession with record-keeping and counter-signing."

"Yep. But what scares me the most, baby, is that he wants you. I saw it in his face." Edward pinched the bridge of his nose in stress. "And what Aro wants..."

"Hey. I'm yours, Edward. Only yours. I'm not letting that creepy fucker come anywhere near me."

"Bella, he's relentless... he'll find a way... to have you, or ruin you."

-%-

May

I walked out of the exam room after my last exam with one thing on my mind. The Fox. I hadn't seen him in two weeks, and I had a surprise for him.

Before going to see Edward, however, I decided to pop into Trinity College, which was hosting the International Symposium on Excitatory Neurotransmitters. It was a small but important conference on the Neurosciences circuit. After a little wander round, picking up leaflets and looking at some of the posters from labs around the world, I was about to leave when I felt a tap on my shoulder.

"Bella?"

"Carlisle!" Professor Cullen's was a 'first names basis' lab. "I had no idea you were coming to this!" I went in for a handshake but he embraced me warmly.

"It's so good to see you! Esme, look who it is!" He exclaimed, gesturing to his adorable wife, another neuroscientist, who hugged me too.

"How are you dear? Keeping well? You look so smart in your gown and_ sub fusc_*, but thinner than I remember."

"Exams. My last one was an hour ago."

"Oh you poor thing!"

"I was actually going to email you this week, Bella. Have you got five minutes?" Carlisle asked.

"Of course."

"I've just received a huge government grant to investigate the role of excitatory neurotransmitters in neurological infections. It means that I can take on two more PhD students. And I'd like one of them to be you."

My mouth dropped open. _Harvard? Me? _But my thoughts turned to Edward. I could not be without him. Even for Harvard.

"Wow. What an opportunity! The thing is, my boyfriend's here..."

"And you're in love with him." Esme said.

"Um, yes."

Carlisle looked disappointed.

"What a shame." He looked at Esme. "Looks like I'm zero for two."

"'Zero for two?'"

"I was hoping to persuade Edward Masen to join me in Harvard as my deputy, but he's not interested." Carlisle told me. _Eek. _"Let me know if things change, OK? I'll always find a place for you in my lab, Bella."

After saying goodbye to the Cullens and promising to stay in touch, I headed to the lab. I intended only to stay a few minutes. It was risky but I was desperate to see his face. "Come in!"

"Hello, Professor."

"Hi! Uh, what are you doing here?" I shut the door behind me.

I dropped my voice to a whisper. "I had to see you. Just for a little while."

His face softened and he beckoned me with one finger.

"Just for a little while." He echoed.

I sat down in his lap and rested my head against his chest, listening to his heart hammering whilst curling my arm around his neck and my fingers into the tendrils of hair at his nape. He tipped my face upwards and kissed me lightly. Once, twice, three times.

"We should stop..." I mumbled as I rose up and kissed him again, this time finding his tongue with mine.

"Unngghh..." He slid his hand up my thigh and cupped my ass before breaking our kiss and sucking at my neck.

I ran my hands up and down his hard chest before rubbing his nipples with my thumb.

"I missed you."

"I missed you too. So fucking much."

He nudged me to sit on his desk and leaned over me before undoing the black tie at my neck and pulling my blouse open. He pushed down my bra cups and took one of my sensitive nipples into his mouth whilst cupping and squeezing my other breast. I moaned a little. I moved my knee slightly and rubbed it across his groin before leaning forward to undo his jeans top button.

He released my nipple with a pop and raised an eyebrow.

"I want your mouth, and I want your cock." I told him.

"All yours."

The Fox pushed up my black skirt.

"Fuck, you're wearing stockings." He mumbled.

"Technically, they're thigh-highs. No garter belt." I mumbled back. His eyes danced with excitement.

"Whatever, baby. They're staying on."

He tickled me over my slit and pressed over my clit. It felt so good my back arched.

"Like that?"

"Mmm-hmm..." He pulled off my black panties and tucked them into his desk drawer. And gasped.

"Bella, what's this?" He ran his thumb over my left hipbone.

"I do believe that it is a tattoo, Professor." I grinned.

"Of a fox."

"_My _fox. Surprise! I got it last week just before my first exam."

He laughed and let go of me. I sat up a little to look at him. He pushed his jeans down with his thumb to reveal his right hip. There, in virtually the same place as my tattoo on my hip, was a new small tattoo of a black swan.

"Proof that you're the only girl I could ever love, Bella." He kissed my fox tattoo, then kissed me deeply.

"Ditto. I love you so much."

He brought my knees up and after kissing my tattoo again, he dipped his beautiful copper head to my slick, pink pussy, exploring me with his fingers and tasting me with his mouth until he was soon flicking my clitoris and fucking me with his tongue alternately. I writhed against him, gripping the side of the desk with one hand and anchoring my other in his hair. I was pulling hard but he didn't seem to mind. It didn't take long at all for me to come in short, hard gasps, trying to keep it quiet.

"So sexy, baby. Enjoy that?"

I didn't say anything but when he stood up, I pushed him back into his chair.

"Baby...?"

"I told you I wanted your cock too." I replied.

I unbuttoned his jeans and pulled it out. His beautiful cock was dripping little pearls, long and hard and proud. I crouched down and kissed his tip before sucking it lightly.

"Oh fuck..." he cried softly. "More. Please."

I took him deeper, pumping him a little at the base with my hand as I sucked his member and moved it in and out of my mouth. His hands tangled into my hair, guiding me a little to get the angle right.

"You suck cock so well, but baby, if you want me to fuck you, then when I tell you, let go, OK? Otherwise, it'll be over too soon."

I moaned my assent, and proceeded to fondle his balls.

"Oh hell! Now, baby."

I released him. He stood, lifted me up and carried me over to the large bookshelf that took up one entire wall of his office.

_Yay! Upright sex! So hot!_

He kissed me softly, pulled out a condom from his jeans watch pocket and, using his weight to brace me, pushed his jeans and boxers to his ankles. He slipped the condom on and then positioned me.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and my legs around his ass. My body knew his so well and welcomed his sheathed cock into my tight, wet canal.

"God, so good!" I told him softly.

"I'll say!" He agreed as he thrust up into me. I bit down on his shoulder at the feeling of delicious fullness, as the head of his cock hit my sweet spot.

I didn't care that my back would be red-raw, or that Edward was going to have cramp in his thighs from holding me up. The only thing that mattered was our mutual ecstasy. Quiet ecstasy, of course.

"Love you, love you, love you..." He chanted, thrusting in and out faster and faster.

"Love you."

I felt the glorious tightening of my impending climax deep inside.

"Gonna come soon." He whispered.

"Me too..."

He added a grind to his thrusts, and that was me all done.

"Quietly baby." He reminded me.

I bit down on his shoulder again and cried out as I saw stars from my monumental orgasm. Edward cried and moaned softly into my neck as he came.

Gasping for breath, he let me down, sat back in this chair and pulled me into his lap.

"Each time, it just gets better." I said in wonder.

"I'll second that!" He curled me against him and I closed my eyes, basking in his warmth. "Bella?"

"Yes, foxy?"

"I've never felt this way about anyone. I...I honestly can't live without you."

I opened my eyes.

"Edward?"

"Move in with me? Officially?" When I didn't answer, he continued. "Once you get your exam results, we can say that we're starting to date, and then come the new term in September, we could announce that we've fallen in love..."

"Yes." I replied. _As if I would say anything else._ "Of course I'll move in!" He rubbed my lips softly.

"Thank you, baby." He said before touching his lips to mine. "You don't know how happy you've made me. I'm man enough to admit that I daydream about our life together. You, me, our work, a little house in the countryside, surrounded by friends..."

"Sounds perfect." _It really does. "_Is that why you turned down Carlisle Cullen's job offer? For the life idyllic with me?"

"Yes. How did you know about that?"

"I bumped into him at the symposium. I interned in his lab last summer, remember?"

"Of course. As great as it would be to work with him, you're going to be here. I've been in this lab for eighteen years and have worked my butt off to establish my reputation."

"What if Slimy Volturi gets the job of Head?"

"We'll cross that bridge if and when. The main thing is, you're going to be working for Jasper, in labs shared by me and Emmett. By the time he starts, our relationship will be out in the open and I will make sure everyone knows he's a pervert if he so much as breathes in your direction."

"You know Carlisle offered me a PhD in his lab."

"He did?"

"I said no, of course. I belong with you, wherever that may be."

Post-sex clean up: Hair combed, window opened to let out sex smell, clothing fixed, perfume/cologne dabbed. Double-checked.

Just as Edward was showing me out of his office, a slight smile and flush on his face, a nasal Italian voice interrupted the peace and quiet.

"Well, well, well, what have we here?"

"Professor Volturi, what are you doing here?"

"I just thought I'd pop in seeing as I was in town for the symposium."

"These are closed labs. I'd appreciate it if you didn't turn up uninvited. You haven't yet been appointed."

"But I will. I just got a grant from Eclipse Pharmaceuticals for six million pounds. No faculty board in their right mind would say no to that." He turned to me. "So, Isabella... do you often pay professors in this department _special _visits during exam week?" He leered, the innuendo clear in his voice. _Gross!_

"My exams are finished. I was just thanking Professor Masen for his supervision and to discuss the articles the team is writing for publication."

"Yes, I heard that you were writing up a little something, Edward." Slimy said patronisingly.

"Well, if you'll excuse me. See you soon, Professor Masen."

I merely nodded at Professor Volturi, and then glanced back at The Fox before leaving. I could tell we were thinking the same thing.

_Shit, that was close._

June

It was results day and I was ecstatic. _First Class Honours. I've done it!_ I couldn't wait to tell The Fox.

"Isabella?" Professor Banner approached me.

"Hello, Professor."

"Would you mind stepping into my office?"

I followed him through.

I just wanted to show you this." He handed me a transcript.

**Isabella Swan**

_**Examinations score: 86%**_

_**Dissertation score: 93%. **_

_**Dissertation grade: Distinction. **_

_**Honours: First Class**_

_**Awards: Gold Medal**_

"G-Gold Medal?" He nodded.

"Yes. And your place on the Neurosciences PhD program is confirmed."

"Are you sure about this? It's just too good a score. Perhaps Professor Masen made a mistake..."

"Bella, Professor Masen didn't mark your dissertation."

"He didn't?"

"No. He didn't tell you?" I shook my head. "Back in December, when it became obvious that your research was a big part of the work he and his team were doing, he suggested that it would be a conflict of interest to mark your dissertation. He stated that he couldn't be objective when it benefited him for you to have a good grade."

"I see. So who did mark it?"

"Professors McCarty and Hale. Then it was reviewed by the Faculty board, including me."

"Thank you, Professor. I should get upstairs and tell the lab. They'll be delighted. And I should discuss the research I'll be doing with Professor Hale." I was overwhelmed with my enthusiasm.

"Isabella, Professor Volturi is going to be your supervisor, not Professor Hale. He insisted."

"P-P-Professor Volturi?" My enthusiasm crashed and burned.

"Yes, he was officially appointed to be Head of Neurosciences this very morning. He's chosen you to be his doctoral student."

_No way in hell. I'd rather do my PhD at Chumpsville College, Nowheretown._

"I guess I should see that as an honour." I began, feeling queasy inside as I remembered Edward's words. "As Head, he would have the _perk,_" I tried not to say the word with disgust, "of choosing who he supervised."

"Yes, indeed. He officially starts in September but no doubt he'll set up a meeting with you soon."

"Oh, I have no doubt."

"Thank you."

I ran up to the labs as fast as I could. I could hear the shouting from the lift lobby.

"...that man is going to suck the life and soul from our department!" Edward was shouting.

"What do you propose we do, Edward?" Emmett's deep voice boomed.

"We're in the minority here. The rest of Neurosciences are salivating over having him, his reputation and his grant money." Jasper said.

"Ugh, before long they'll be calling us 'Eclipse Neurosciences, Oxford' instead of affiliating us with the university."

"Um, hi." I interrupted.

"Bella!" Emmett gave me a friendly hug. "So, can Jasper officially call you his PhD student?"

I shook my head glumly.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong?" Jasper asked, hugging me too. "Don't tell me you didn't get a First? We marked your dissertation, there's no way..."

"93% on the dissertation. First Class Honours. Gold Medal."

"Bella, that's fantastic! So why do you look like someone shot your puppy?"

"I've been granted the _honour_," I said the word with disdain, "of having Professor Volturi as my PhD supervisor next semester. He chose me personally." I looked at Edward who had gone rigid and white.

I promptly burst into tears.

"Oh, no, don't cry, Bella..." Jasper said, starting to put his arm around my shoulder.

Edward strode over, nudged him out the way and pulled me into his arms. I sobbed against his lab coat, gripping it in my little hands to get closer.

"Sh...sh..." He rocked me gently and I felt his lips brush against my forehead. "I'm here, baby. I'm not going to let him touch you." He whispered.

"Holy shit!" Emmett exclaimed. "So, that's why you didn't want to mark her dissertation!"

"Told you. Alice is never wrong."

When I calmed down, Edward and I looked towards his best friends.

"I love her." Was all he said. "Bella, are you all right to get home? I'll meet you there, but first, I need to have a chat with Professor Banner."

"We all do." Emmett echoed.

The three hour wait for him to come home was torture.

"So, what happened?" I asked, scrambling to my feet as he walked through the door.

"Give me a moment, baby, and just come here a sec?"

I walked into his arms, ran my hands into his hair and tucked my head into the side of his neck. He sighed deeply, his muscles relaxing slightly.

"Bella, when you said, 'forever,' did you mean it?" He murmured. I kissed the skin of his neck and tilted my head up. To my surprise, Edward's blue-green eyes were glistening with tears.

"Of course I meant it. You're my Fox. My one and only. Why?"

"Because we quit. The three of us. I'm leaving Oxford, and I'm hoping, _praying,_ that you'll come with me."

-%-

July

"Congratulations, Miss Swan!" Professor Banner and Professor Gerandy, who looked like retirement was suiting him, caught me on my way out of the convocation hall after my graduation ceremony and the faculty reception.

"Thank you, Professors."

"I understand from Banner here that you've decided not to stay on for your PhD after all?" Professor Gerandy asked.

"Professor Volturi was very disappointed." Professor Banner added.

"Yes, Oxford's been good to me, but time to move onto pastures new."

"Any particular plans?"

"Um, I might go to North America for a while." I told them vaguely. "I got a taste for the continent when I was there last summer."

"Ah yes, Boston wasn't it?" Professor Banner said. I nodded. "Did you know that Professor Masen is going to be starting as Deputy Head of Neurosciences at Harvard next semester? You should look him up if you're in the area."

"Yes, perhaps. If I'm in the area." I checked my watch. "I'm terribly sorry, Professors, but I have another engagement..."

"Well, don't let us keep you! But do stay in touch! We're expecting great things from you one day."

I shook their hands warmly before walking quickly through the gates. A rented silver Volvo with dark tinted windows was idling by the kerb. My Fox was waiting for me.

After Edward quit, he contacted Carlisle Cullen and accepted the job he'd been offered in May. Carlisle was ecstatic, even more so when I accepted his offer to be his doctoral student. Jasper and Emmett moved to London, to King's College and University College respectively. They, and their wives, were still the only people from Oxford who knew about our relationship. Tanya, Edward's best friend, who lived in New York, was the only other person in the know.

Thankfully we didn't start in Boston until September, so we had a couple of months. I was very glad of it. I knew that we would need time to adjust to life in the USA, to build a home together.

To enjoy being married.

That's right. A week before my graduation, Edward and I tied the knot at a small hotel in Lake Como, Italy. It was a spur of the moment thing and we told nobody at all. We both agreed that our declarations of love and commitment to one another should be completely and utterly private. We would share when we were ready, but that time wasn't anytime soon.

"Ready to go, baby?"

"Indeed I am, foxy."

"Perhaps I should start calling you my vixen!" He murmured before leaning across to give me a long, deep, slow kiss. "Mmm...my little vixen of a wife..."

"Maybe you should..." I grabbed his hand and placed it on my thigh under my skirt. Edward slid his hand upwards, stroking the lace edge of my stocking and the straps of my garter belt before venturing higher. His eyes almost popped out of his head as his fingers met the soaking wet heat of my centre.

"Fuck! No panties?" I bit my lip and nodded. "Are you telling me that you went through your entire graduation ceremony and the faculty reception with no underwear?"

I leaned across and sucked his earlobe into my mouth. He shivered slightly.

"Yes. I wanted to be ready to receive my graduation present as soon as possible." I whispered as I palmed his cock through his trousers.

"Our flight to Boston leaves in four hours, Mrs Masen. Do you think you could wait four hours to receive your graduation present in the Mile High Club?"

"I want you now!"

"What my vixen wants, she gets..." Two of his fingers slid into me, causing me to gasp with delight. _Thank God for tinted windows._ "I'm sure they'll hold the plane for us."

_Fin_

**AN: **_***Sub fusc**_** refers to the formal clothing that all University of Oxford students wear to university occasions, including examinations, under an academic cap and gown. **


End file.
